Category Archives: Agents

Eastern Himalaya Travel & Tour Operators’ Association (EHTTOA), Travel Agents’ Association of Bengal (TAAB) and Himalayan Hospitality & Tourism Development Network (HHTDN), have joined hands to come up with decisions and demands to try and pragmatically revive the tourism sector in the state. The associations have decided that travellers and agents who paid for a trip that later got cancelled because of the lockdown and pandemic will get a credit note for the full amount with one-year validity. “We have resolved to work together on common issues to expedite the industry’s revival. The idea is to go by a set of decisions which we have made and approach government departments and agencies so that relief in some form comes to the sector that we believe is the worst hit in the region,” said Sandipan Ghosh, General Secretary, EHTTOA. Telegraph

Travel agents need to put forth their case before the Supreme Court to make the Bench conscious of the plight of travel agents while finally deciding the matter on issue of credit shells given by airlines instead of cash refunds, says Dheeraj Nair, Partner and Vishrutyi Sahni, Associate at J. Sagar Associates. “Every individual, including the Supreme Court judges are consumers to airlines. Thus, they understand the transaction between a consumer and an airline and relate to the impact of cancellations and refunds. However, non-members of the travel industry are not aware of the transaction between an airline and a travel agent and thus, cannot relate to the impact of cancellations and refunds on travel agents. Only by placing this information on record will the Supreme Court be able to understand the direct losses being faced by travel agents in case of non-refunds and consequentially enable them to order accordingly,” says the firm.

A Travel Consul survey that analyses the impact and outlook of the COVID-19 outbreak on tour operators and agency owners suggests that at least 42% of the businesses surveyed will not be able to sustain themselves for more than three months in the absence of government intervention. A meagre 3% said they have a chance of survival for 7-10 months.

Celebrating 20 years of operations, Happy Tours will conduct a live webinar on Slovenia today at 3 pm (IST). Happy Tours has offices in Slovenia, Croatia, London and Athens and a dedicated team based in Pune. Happy Tours is an inbound European tour operator for both M!CE and leisure groups throughout Europe. It also owns a hotel near Plitvice Lakes – Hotel Lyra www.lyraplitvice.com in Croatia and has its own coaches. To register, contact Jaspreet Kaur on 9650196532 or jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com.

According to a comprehensive survey conducted by EbixCash Travel & Holidays to understand travel trends in a new normal scenario, 82% of respondents feel that people will start travelling within the next 3-12 months. While the rest 18% feel it that they will travel only after a year. The responses were collected from 5,124 respondents comprising travel enthusiasts, corporates and stakeholders from M!CE sectors.

More than 2,300 tourism and hospitality students and academicians from 77 universities around the country have been registered with CSR-initiative started by Voice of India Tourism (VOIT) started to educate and enlighten the young minds of the industry through daily live learning sessions. Industry leaders from different sectors and fields are sharing their experience on video call sessions which is complementary and free of cost for students. Lucknow University is the partner for the online virtual training program of the students.

The leading international travel marketing alliance, Travel Consul reveals that while lockdowns and movement restrictions had brought business to a standstill, tourism stakeholders (46%) kept clients engaged through live chats – the most preferred mode of communication amongst all the technology available today. These virtual face-to-face interactions were followed closely by a mix of telephone calls, emails and social media participation.

Malaysia Airlines has introduced an enhanced Economy Class flexible fare options across its entire network for all passengers to enjoy, offering unparalleled safety, security, flexibility and a completely hassle-free, premium experience based on the needs of each customer. Earlier limited to domestic, ASEAN and South Asian destinations, passengers will now have access to three unique fare options (Lite, Basic, Flex), to all destinations except Malaysia to Japan and Japan to Malaysia, Jeddah and Madinah, beginning 22 June 2020. Malaysia Airlines Group Chief Executive Officer Captain Izham Ismail said, “With the world slowly recovering from the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, and as our passengers begin to travel again, Malaysia Airlines seeks to take them to the skies without the burden of worry, with a truly hassle-free experience. Putting their needs as priority, we took the time to listen and gain invaluable insight to our passengers through extensive feedback, and from there we redesigned, redefined and are proud to introduce our enhanced fare family, providing our dear customers with a comprehensive product that caters to their every need, no matter the nature of travels. As the first airline in the Asia Pacific region to fully introduce flexible fare options across our network, these fares will allow greater personalization for our passengers, balancing a simple and intuitive booking experience, alongside unforgettable Malaysian Hospitality onboard and on the ground, creating a stress-free and seamless travel experience. This reaffirms our commitment to putting our passengers first, especially in these uncertain times where passengers may be apprehensive to travel. With this we hope to instill a sense of confidence and trust in them to Fly Malaysia once again.” Regardless of your travel needs, all passengers …

A recent survey by Travel Consul, the leading international travel marketing alliance, reveals that to ensure their survival amid the COVID-19 pandemic, most travel trade stakeholders in India (43%) have had to adjust their business model to changing times by focusing more on training programmes (40%) and investing in technology for enhancing both product and customer service (35%). Stakeholders have resorted to improving their current products, designing new products, examining new destinations as well as audiences, and strengthened customer service while even improving the supply base.

When asked what it is that destination management organisations can do to facilitate business growth for their partner travel agents and tour operators, most respondents (83%) cited introduction of a health and safety certification as the most important criteria. The survey was conducted by Travel Consul, a leading international travel marketing alliance.